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^^BtbCH  PUBLISHING  COMPA.N                        ' 

1913 

HOW   TO   TELL 
BIBLE    STORIES 

TO 

JEWISH  CHILDREN 

BY  THE 

Rev.  D.  De.  SOLA  POOL,.  Ph..  D 

OF  SHEARITH  ISRAEL  SYNAGOGUE 
NEW  YORK  CITY 


NEW  YORK 

BLOCH  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1913 


The  following  general  suggestions  for 
the  parent  or  teacher  may  be  modified 
according  to  age,  sex,  knowledge  and 
intelligence  of  the  child,  and  by  the 
differing  conditions  of  class-room  in- 
struction or  individual  teaching     ::     :: 


Copyriaht.    1913 

By 

BLOCH  PUBUSHING  COMPANY 


HOW    TO    TELL    BIBLE    STORIES 
TO  JEWISH  CHILDREN 


MENTAL    ATTITUDE    OF    TEACHER 
AND  PUPIL. 

(1)  Reverent:  All  religious  teaching 
must  have  an  underlying  spiritual  basis. 
The  teacher's  attitude  of  reverence  or  its 
opposite  will  infallibly  create  a  correspond- 
ing spirit  in  the  child. 

{2)  Jev^ish:  It  should  never  be  for- 
gotten that  the  Bible  is  the  basis  of  our 
Jewish  religion  and  life ;  therefore  for  us, 
it  is  different  from  all  other  literatures, 
classical  myths,  old  legends,  or  tales  from 
Chaucer  and  Shakespeare.  This  difference 
should  be  made  a  fundamental  and  deter- 
mining feature  of  the  treatment  of  the  Bible 
stories.  They  should  be  brought  into  per- 
sonal connection  with  the  child.  Abraham 
was  not  some  remote  man,  dropped  from  the 
skies  in   some  indefinite  land,  among  some 

3 


^0924.'^  6 


vague  people ;  he  was  an  ancestor  ot  the 
child.  Moses  was  not  any  vague  historical 
man  of  the  past,  like  Julius  Caesar  or  Na- 
poleon, but  part  of  our  family  history,  al- 
most a  distant  relative. 

(3)  National:  Abraham,  Moses,  and  the 
other  great  Biblical  characters  are  to  be 
brought  near  to  the  child,  not  only  as  mem- 
bers of  his  family,  but  also  as  members  of 
his  people.  In  this  way  we  can  teach  the 
child  to  feel  the  unity  of  his  people,  and 
imbue  him  with  a  nationalistic,  patriotic. 
Jewish  spirit.  The  American  school  child 
says  "We  Americans  beat  the  British." 
Similarly,  Jewish  children  should  have  in- 
fused into  them  a  self-identification  with 
their  Jewish  past.  The  teacher  should  not 
say  "Was  it  not  brave  of  the  children  oi 
Israel  .  ."  but  "Was  it  not  brave  of 
us  .  ."  The  child  should  be  made  as  en- 
thusiastic over  our  Jewish  Biblical  heroes 
as  American  children  are  for  Washington 
and  Lincoln,  or  English  children  for  Marl- 
borough and  Nelson.  Only  by  being  taught 
in  this  spirit  can  the  child  grow  uncon- 
sciously into  self-identification  with  his 
Biblical  past. 

4 


PURPOSE  OF  BIBLE  TEACHING. 

(1)  To  Make  Jews:  The  purpose  of  the 
Bible  story  is  to  train  up  good  Jews,  not 
to  train  for  examinations  or  to  rear  Bible 
experts.  Not  the  ability  to  pass  an  examina- 
tion, but  ''The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  be- 
ginning of  wisdom." 

(2)  Moral:  The  story  is  not  so  much  an 
end  in  itself  as  an  illustration  of  a  moral  or 
religious  teaching.  But  the  moral  purpose 
should  not  be  stressed  or  made  obtrusive. 
A  child  is  quick  to  draw  conclusions;  there- 
fore, praise  or  blame  should  be  only  sug- 
gested, and  the  child  should  be  stimulated  to 
draw  the  lesson  for  himself.  Above  all,  there 
must  be  no  cant  or  sanctimonious  preaching. 
The  stories  should  be  told  simply,  naturally 
and  made  intelligible ;  then  the  child  him- 
self will  draw  the  moral  conclusions. 

In  this  connection,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  Bible  characters  were  not 
saints,  but  flesh  and  blood  like  ourselves. 
Making  clear  their  human  frailty  and  faulti- 
ness  prevents  the  setting  up  of  false  stan- 
dards with  subsequent  disillusionment.  The 
child  must  see  that  Jacob,  Saul,  David,  Solo- 
5 


mon,  etc.,  were  human  beings,  subject  to 
the  same  temptations  as  we  are,  not  remote, 
abstract  saints  of  divine  perfection.  But 
one  must  guard  against  painting  the  faults 
in  too  dark  colors.  The  bad  should  never 
be  emphasized;  it  must  be  introduced  inci- 
dentally. Not  Jacob's  sin  is  important,  but 
his  subsequent  discipline;  not  David's  sin  is 
important,  but  the  sincerity  of  his  repent- 
ance. 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  CHILD. 

(1)  Imaginative:  Children  are  highly 
imaginative,  and  therefore  they  must  be 
helped  to  picture  the  stories  correctly.  Re- 
member that  the  Bible  is:  (aj  ancient,  and 
therefore  it  must  be  interpreted  in  terms  of 
the  modern ;  (b)  Oriental,  and  therefore  it 
must  be  translated  into  terms  of  the  Occi- 
dent; (c)  representative  of  a  simple,  pastoral 
and  agricultural  civilization,  and  therefore 
the  imagination  of  the  modern  town-bred 
child  must  be  helped  by  interpretation  in 
familiar  terms  of  his  own  urban  culture. 
The  child  should  be  helped  to  picture  cor- 
rectly, and  good  illustrations,  plans,  models, 
etc.,  should  be  used  freely,  so  that  the  child 
may  have  a  true  mental  picture  of  all  ele- 
ments of  the  Bible  story,  such  as  the  Taber- 
nacle and  the  Temple ;  an  altar,  a  sandal,  a 
tent,  a  chariot,  animals  such  as  the  camel. 
etc. 

On  the  other  hand,  one  need  not  try  too 
insistently  to  check  the  child's  anthropomor- 
phism. For  many  years  it  remains  mean- 
ingless to  a  child  when  one  tells  him  "God 
is  a  spirit."     The  child's  conception  of  God 

7 


will  purify   itself  automatically   with  added 
years. 

[2)  Uninterested  in  the  Abstract:  *'J^^^' 
ousy"  is  comparatively  meaningless  to  a 
child,  but  the  stories  of  Cain  and  AVjcI  or 
Joseph  and  his  brethren  are  vivid.  ''Covet- 
ousness"  is  an  idea  unmistakably  inter- 
preted by  the  story  of  Naboth's  vineyard. 
"Friendship"  is  vague,  but  the  story  of  Jon- 
athan and  David  appeals  clearly.  The  value 
of  truth  is  best  exemplified  by  stories  such 
as  that  of  Jacob ;  courage,  by  David ;  stead- 
fastness by  Mordecai,  etc.  Therefore,  moral 
teachings  should  be  personified  wherever 
possible.  The  child  is  a  natural  hero-wor- 
shipper, and  we  need  to  stimulate  this  ten- 
dency Jewishly  b\  directing  it  toward  our 
Tewish  heroes 

(3)  Imitative:  The  child  when  alone 
will  be  apt  to  play  at  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac, 
the  selling  of  Joseph,  etc.  Therefore  care 
should  be  taken  not  to  emphasize  the  pain- 
ful, cruel  and  harsh. 


TEACHER'S  EQUIPMENT. 

il)  Sincerity:  The  teacher  must  have 
faith  in  that  which  is  taught.  Assum- 
ing the  teacher  to  be  in  a  school  where 
the  spirit  of  the  teaching  is  in  accord  with 
his  or  her  views,  there  will  be  little  or 
nothing  to  gloss  over.  It  is  impossible  to 
teach  that  which  one  does  not  believe,  with- 
out undermining  the  child's  sincerity  and 
shaking  his  faith. 

(2)  Enthusiasm:  The  teacher  must  al- 
ways be  subjectively  interested,  never  in- 
different, mechanical  and  dispassionate. 
Without  enthusiasm  the  teaching  will  be 
lifeless,  and  will  serve  only  to  weary  the 
child,  and  give  him  a  lasting  distaste  for  the 
Bible,  and  eventually  for  the  religion  en- 
shrined in  the  Bible. 

(3)  Sympathy  and  Patience:  It  is  es- 
sential to  get  the  child's  point  of  riew,  to 
understand  the  child's  difficulties  and  to  ap- 
preciate the  child's  interests. 

(4)  The  Bible:  The  Bible  itself  must 
be  used  for  accuracy  and  true  atmosphere, 
and,  whenever  possible,  the  Hebrew  Bible. 


If  an  English  version  be  used,  either  the 
Revised  Version  (Bagster's  teacher's  edi- 
tion with  its  comprehensive  Bible  helps  is 
excellent)  or  the  Leeser  translation,  but  not 
the  Authorized  Version  of  1611,  should  be 
adopted.  The  teacher  must  always  go  to 
the  original  sources  and  avoid  perpetuating 
class-book  errors,  such  as  that  the  Matsoth 
were  baked  in  the  sun  on  the  backs  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  or  that  the  brethren  of 
Joseph  (instead  of  the  Midianites)  drew 
Joseph  from  the  pit  and  sold  him  to  the 
Ishmaelites,  or  that  Pharaoh  was  drowned 
in  the  Red  Sea.  The  teacher,  therefore, 
must  study  in  advance  even  the  most  fa- 
miliar lesson,  to  be  sure  of  its  details,  to 
avoid  pitfalls  and  to  be  able  to  answer  un- 
expected questions.  Text-books  and  other 
helps  may  also  be  used  in  preparation  to 
straighten  out  chronology,  or  to  unify  a 
story  scattered  over  various  parts  of  the 
Bible ;  but  they  must  never  be  brought  into 
the  class.  It  is  on  record  that  a  child  who 
had  used  only  L.  B.  Abrahams'  Manual  of 
Bible  history,  when  asked  ''Who  wrote  the 
Bible?"  replied  "Mr.  Abrahams." 

f5)     A  Full,  Almost  Literal  Knowledge 
10 


of  the  Story:  The  story  must  never  be  read 
as  a  whole  from  a  book;  it  must  always  be 
'talked.'  The  Bible  may  be  used  for  quoting 
exact  words,  but  not  for  reading  the  story 
as  a  whole.  The  story  must  be  made  the 
teacher's  own,  or  it  cannot  fully  interest  the 
child.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  teacher  not  so 
much  to  hear  lessons,  as  to  teach  them : 
otherwise,  the  hour  becomes  a  burden  to 
the  child  and  not  a  pleasure.  If  one  teaches 
the  stories  often  enough,  the  child  will  learn 
them  without  effort. 

(6)  General  Biblical  Knowledge:  The 
teacher  should  be  at  least  moderately  fa- 
miliar with  the  contents  of  the  whole  Bible, 
and  must  have  some  acquaintance  with  the 
Apocrypha.     The  following  are  essential : 

(a)  A  grasp  of  the  Bible  as  a  whole, 
with  a  knowledge  of  the  progressive  devel- 
opment of  the  people  under  Moses,  the 
Judges,  the  monarchy  and  the  theocracy 
after  the  exile. 

(b)  A  general  conception  of  the  function 
and  activity  of  the  prophets,  priests  and 
Levites ;  the  part  played  by  the  Tabernacle 
and  Temple  in  daily  life,  the  inner  meaning 

It 


of  the  sacrificial   s}steni,  the  nature  of  the 
agricultural  and  pilgrim  festivals,  etc. 

(c)  A  knowedge  of  the  principal  laws 
affecting  home-life ;  the  treatment  of  elders, 
servants,  laborers,  strangers,  rich  and  poor; 
the  laws  against  superstition  and  idolatry ; 
regulation  of  military  service ;  checks  on  the 
lu^lding  of  property  (how  else  can  the  story 
of  Ahab  and  Naboth  be  made  clear?),  laws 
of  tithes  and  charity  (story  of  Ruth),  etc. 

(d)  Sufficient  archaeological  knowledge 
to  be  able  to  explain  the  approximate  mod- 
ern equivale'nts  of  Biblical  weights,  meas- 
ures and  coins;  the  characteristics  of  Bibli- 
cal animals  and  plants  (how  else  can 
Jotham's  parable  be  made  intelligible?); 
customs  such  as  anointing,  obeisance,  wash- 
ing hands  and  feet,  casting  lots;  Biblical 
articles  of  dress  and  furniture ;  Biblical  man- 
ners and  methods  of  ploughing,  brick-mak- 
ing, etc. 

(e)  Knowledge  of  the  main  geographical 
and  topographical  features  of  Palestine ;  the 
chief  towns,  mountains,  valleys,  rivers  and 
lakes;  political  divisions;  and  the  political 
importance    of   the    surrounding   countries; 

12 


climatic    conditions    affecting   rainfall,    har- 
vests, etc. 

(f)  Knowledge  of  the  character  of  the 
peoples  of  ancient  Palestine  and  the  neigh- 
boring lands,  and  the  character  and  signifi- 
cance of  the  various  idolatrous  worships 
with  which  the  Jews  of  Bible  times  came 
into  contact. 

\^g)  Some  idea  of  the  literary  history  of 
the  Bible ;  a  recognition  of  the  varied  con- 
tents of  the  Bible,  the  difference  in  the 
characters  of  the  various  books,  their  vary- 
ing purposes,  styles  and  dates  of  composi- 
tion ;  a  conception  of  the  characteristics  of 
Hebrew  poetry  and  of  the  Wisdom  litera- 
ture. 

All  such  information  may  be  obtained  in 
concise  form  in  any  of  the  ''Teachers'  Helps 
Bibles."  Bible  Dictionaries  and  Encyclo- 
pedias may  also  be  consulted.  But  such 
reference  works  must  be  used  with  great 
care.  They  are  all  written  from  the  Christian 
point  of  view ;  and  therefore  most  of  them 
are  rendered  unfit  for  use  by  Jewish  teach- 
ers through  anti-Old  Testament  and  pro- 
New  Testament  bias,  resulting  in  the  ac- 
13 


ceptance  of  radical  and  destructive  critical 
theories  about  the  Old  Testament  as  proven 
facts. 


14 


METHODS  OF  PRESENTATION  AND 
TEACHING. 

(1)  Varied  Emphasis  for  Boys  and 
Girls:  For  boys,  one  should  choose  more 
especially  stories  of  war,  victories,  loyalty, 
bravery,  patriotism,  strength,  trial,  diffi- 
culty, etc.  For  girls,  more  weight  should 
be  laid  on  domestic  stories,  such  as  those  of 
Sarah,  Rebecca  (who  must  be  made  the  cen- 
ter of  her  marriage  story,  whereas  for  boys 
Eleazer  should  be  the  center  of  the  story), 
Miriam,  the  good  sister,  Ruth,  the  good 
daughter,  Hannah,  the  good  mother,  etc. 
For  very  young  children,  one  should  choose 
stories  of  children,  e.  g.,  Isaac,  Joseph,  Sam- 
uel, David,  Joash,  etc. 

(2)  Development  by  Questions:  The 
full  story  should  not  be  told  entirely  by  the 
teacher.  Constant  use  should-  be  made  of 
questions,  so  that  the  child  himself  develops 
the  story.  This  method  of  having  the  child 
partake  in  the  telling  of  the  tale  keeps  alive 
the  interest,  and  trains  the  child  in  moral 
thinking.  Oriental  imagery  and  the  innu- 
merable poetic  metaphors  of  the  Bible  can 
also  be  explained  best  by  the  children  them- 

15 


selves,   with   the   aid  of   helpful   suggestive 
questions  by  the  teacher. 

(3)  Historical  and  Critical  Problems: 
Reference  to  these  should  be  omitted  for  all 
except  the  oldest  children,  i.  e.,  from  15  or 
16  years  and  upwards. 

(4)  Theological  Problems:  The  child 
must  never  be  confused  with  controversial 
questions  such  as  the  exact  limits  of  in- 
spiration, the  immanence  or  transcendence 
of  the  Deity. 

(5)  Moral  Problems:  These  will  not 
exist  if  the  warning  of  Section  2,  page  5,  be 
heeded.  For  older  children,  apparent  diffi- 
culties must  not  be  passed  over  in  silence, 
but  they  should  be  introduced  only  inci- 
dentally, never  being  stressed.  If  the  child 
should  raise  them,  he  should  be  stimulated 
to  decide  and  judge  for  himself  as  to  how 
the  difficulties  should  be  resolved. 

(6)  Miracles:  The  child  has  very  little, 
if  any,  difficulty  with  miracles.  For  him, 
they  are  inherent  in  nature ;  and  for  the 
child  rationalizing  explanations  of  miracles 
are  as  out  of  place  as  they  are  usually  in- 

16 


correct  or  absurd.  But  the  teacher  must  be 
on  his  guard  that  he  does  not  teach  as 
miracles  happenings  which  the  Bible  tellb 
of  as  purely  natural.  Only  a  very  careful 
reading  of  the  Bible  story,  and,  often,  a 
knowledge  of  Hebrew,  can  guard  against 
this  common  danger.  Above  all,  in  dealing 
with  miracles,  the  fundamental  truth  to  be 
made  clear  is  that  the  miraculous  element  in 
the  story  is  not  the  central  and  essential 
element.  For  instance,  the  greatness  of 
Elijah  rests  not  on  his  miracles,  but  on  his 
heroic  struggle  for  God  against  Baal. 

(7)  Omissions:  That  which  is  alto- 
gether unsuitable  for  children  must  of  neces- 
sity be  omitted.  But  it  is  very  often  pos- 
sible to  preserve  the  spirit  of  the  story  in  a 
paraphrase,  and,  wherever  possible,  this 
should  be  done. 

(8)  Science  and  the  Bible:  x\t  all  times 
it  must  be  made  clear  that  the  Bible  is  not 
meant  primarily  as  a  text-book  of  geologv, 
geography,  history,  etc.,  but  that  its  perma- 
nent value  is  contained  in  its  teachings.  So. 
for  example,  the  importance  of  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis  is  not  ultimately  affected 

17 


by  whether  or  not  it  agrees  with,  or  can  be 
made  to  agree  with,  the  latest  geological 
theories.  Its  ultimate  value  rests  in  its 
teachings  of  the  wonder  and  beauty  of  Crea- 
tion, the  Divine  origin  of  the  world,  man's 
creation  in  the  image  of  God,  God's  provi- 
dence in  giving  food,  drink,  clothing,  shelter, 
pleasure  and  Sabbath  rest  to  all — in  a  word, 
"And  God  saw  all  that  He  had  made,  and 
behold,  it  was  very  good."  In  general,  one 
should  never  arouse  doubts  in  the  child's 
mind.  These  will  come  with  the  child's  nat- 
ural development.  Early  teaching  must 
give  the  child  a  positive  equipment  of  faith 
which  will  enable  him  as  a  youth  to  wrestle 
with  doubt  and  win. 

(9)  Chronology:  For  younger  children 
this  may  be  neglected.  The  Bible  is  not  a 
graduated  text-book  with  Genesis  for  the 
lowest  and  Chronicles  for  the  highest  class. 
Free  selection  must  be  made  of  that  which 
is  most  suitable,  and  Abraham  and  Esther 
may  be  spoken  of  in  the  same  lesson.  For 
older  children,  this  neglect  of  chronology 
must  be  avoided.  For  them,  the  Bible  story 
must  be  made  consecutive  and  organic, 
reaching  even  down  to  our  own  day  in  un- 

18 


broken  continuity.  Noteworthy  dates,  •?.  g.. 
586  B.  C.  E.,  should  be  constantly  impressed 
upon  the  child  to  help  him  conceive  of  the 
history  in  its  proper  sequence.  But  the 
remoteness  of  the  past  should  not  be  em- 
phasized ;  for  the  child,  the  Bible  story 
''happened  sometime  before  I  was  born." 

(10)  Geography:  This  should  be  pic- 
torialized  and  visualized  to  the  child.  The 
coming  out  of  Egypt,  the  wanderings  m 
the  desert,  crossing  the  Jordan,  the  Prom- 
ised Land,  the  Northern  and  Southern 
Kingdoms,  etc.,  should  all  be  locally 
visualized  through  constant  reference  to 
maps. 

(11;  Prophecy:  It  must  be  made  clear  to 
older  children  that  prophecy  does  not  neces- 
sarily mean  foreseeing  the  future,  but  is 
rather  inspired  religious  teaching  on  the  im- 
mediate problems  of  the  day.  They  must 
realize  that  the  Prophets  were  real  people, 
with  a  definite  historical  message  and  back- 
ground. The  prophets  must  be  made  to  live 
for  them,  and  not  remain  unattainable,  saint- 
ly shadows.  The  burden  of  their  social  and 
religious  teaching  should  be  translated  into 
modern  terms. 

19 


(12)  Memorizing:  Ihe  child  bliould 
memorize  not  such  facts  as  the  names  of 
Cain's  descendents,  the  camping  places  of 
the  children  of  Israel,  the  names  of  the  Cities 
of  Refuge,  the  reigns  of  the  kings,  the  num- 
bers in  an  army,  etc.,  but  verses,  teachings, 
laws,  sayings,  proverbs,  promises  to  Israel, 
declarations  of  faith,  etc.  As  often  as  pos- 
sible, even  the  young  child  should  learn 
short  expressive  Hebrew  phrases,  such  as 
hinneni  (here  am  I),  ayeka  (where  art 
thou?),  atta  haeesh  (thou  art  the  man), 
ve-ahabta  lere'ahha  kamohha  (and  thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself). 


20 


